The Darkness
by Nik Nak
Summary: Hilary's life was as normal as you could get until an army destroyed her village & fate teamed her up with an ex-assassin, a wanted criminal, an unorthodox samurai & an exNeoborg soldier in order to save the world. AU
1. The Dragon Rider

Ŧђ℮ ĐặŘЌŊëŞŝ

Ŧђ℮ ĐặŘЌŊëŞŝ

Chapter 1 – Dragon Rider

_It called for her. Every night it called. It had been her first memory. Though not understanding the danger of trusting unknown voices as a child she allowed its deep, silky, authoritative voice to bring her comfort. "Find me, child, find me. Set me free from this prison. Together we shall be the most powerful deity that has ever existed on the face of the Earth. Find me, child, find me…"_

The full moon and the star studded sky dimly lit the non-existent path Hilary followed through the forest. She had never dreamed she could run this fast or for this long but adrenaline and fear motivated her body in a way her mind never could. Her mind seemed to be separated from her body, floating above her, as her legs pumped mechanically, sprinting through the forest with long quick strides. From a distance she heard someone scream 'make sure she's alive!'

She didn't dare chance looking back, besides the stench of smoke that billowed in her nose suggested that it probably wasn't such a wise idea to see her village burnt to the ground. Her eyes watered from the smoke and from not blinking in case that one second she dare closed her eyes, a soldier jumped out of a bush or she could miss an obstacle on the ground. Her instinct was screaming at her to run like the wind and at all costs don't get caught. Her lungs clouded with smoke had gone numb from the pain of a thousand stabbing daggers with each breathe, in fact her entire body had gone numb, the scratches that once stung her legs, the bruises that blemished her skin had been entirely forgotten about by her nerves. All she could feel was an icy chill flowing through her veins.

Her home, as well as her whole village, had been decimated for no legitimate reason by an army she had never seen or heard of before. The only piece of information she had on them was that they wanted her alive for some reason but why? She was nothing special, just your common commoner. She wasn't rich either, a definite far cry from being a princess or a noble. Hooves of horses could be heard drumming the ground behind her, the noise getting louder and louder as the army came ever closer and closer. The idea of climbing a tree struck her but she had seen their mutts and if she hid she would be sniffed out in no time. If they could sniff her out where on Earth could she hide? She could run but not hide. And there was no way she could run forever.

Sensing a huge energy level coming from behind she lost her footing in a panic. Preparing for the earthy welcome the ground was going to give her face she clenched her eyes shut and braced herself. She nearly burst her lungs screaming when she discovered she was more than a hundred feet in the air being held by the back of my cloak by a tanned young man decked out in armour with a sword by his side riding a huge Chinese dragon instead of face planting the ground.

"Whoa are you alright there Miss?" The navy pony tailed man chuckled speaking in a manner as if she had just fallen over and scraped her knee instead of being dangled like a worm on a hook, way above the trees.

"Put me down!" she screamed kicking her legs, feeling the icy air slap her body with its cold hands. Looking at the ground and the minute sizes of the trees a vomiting sensation took over her throat. She was so high up.

"Gladly," he smiled with amusement twinkling in his blue eyes letting go of her forest green cloak.

The friction of the wind against her skin as she plunged, whipped her body with a thousand lashes. While her throat was still hoarse from the smoke, it didn't hold itself back from letting out a scream that would have quaked hell itself. She couldn't believe her life was going to end like this, embracing herself for the pain of her body being smashed against the ground she clenched her eyes shut.

Watching gravity do its job briefly as she plummeted screaming to the ground, he let out a little chuckle, "I suppose we should save her, hey Dragoon?" This caused the dragon to let out a small indignant huff at his master's games before descending to catch the maiden, positioning himself directly under her so that his master could catch her in his arms.

When it finally registered that she hadn't hit the ground she opened her eyes discovering she was cradled in the arms, in what would have been a romantic gesture if she hadn't been scared out of her wits, of some man who rode a dragon around for transportation. She didn't hesitate to change her vocal projections from screaming to letting all hell loose on this… this bonehead for nearly killing her.

"You… you're crazy!" she yelled her breathing heavy and irregular, her eyes wide with shock as she gaped at her saviour/attempted murderer as if he had three eyes instead of two.

"Aren't we all?" he bantered with a grin, readjusting her so her elbow wouldn't dig into his stomach. His right arm held her firmly in place while his left gripped one of the dragon's horns.

"You almost killed me!" She exclaimed trying to get through this guy's impossibly thick skull the severity of what he had done. His humour was so sick and twisted that he thought that her near death experience was some sort of joke! Hilary momentarily indulged in pondering the possibility of whether or not he had been dropped on the head as a baby.

"I rescued you," He corrected, speaking as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"From what dying of old age?" she bit back sarcastically her eyes making daggers at his eyes.

"No! From being captured by those lowlifes!" He explained his temper beginning to crack. All he had been doing was flying around looking for a suitable place to camp for the night when he saw flames on the horizon and on inspection discovered this girl being chased by a horde of raiders on steeds. And of course being the noble samurai he was he rescued the girl from capture without expecting a reward, though a thank you would have been nice instead of being ear bashed a hundred feet in the air.

"You didn't have to drop me though!" she shrieked indignantly her hands unconsciously rolled into tight fists. He – was – impossible!

"You asked!" He argued back, ignoring the fact he dropped her for his own amusement.

"I didn't mean like that!" She cried, groaning loudly in frustration at his ignorance.

"Well maybe you should have been more specific." He replied simply.

"Well maybe you should use your head. Now I'd appreciate it if you set me down and I'll be on my way." She demanded straightening the skirt of her dress with her hands.

"No can do little missy, not until you tell me who you are and why an entire army is after your skin?" He ordered. Army's didn't chase people for the hell of it nor did the send a whole battalion after one person without a very good reason.

"That's not any of your business." She replied stressing each word, shifting her eyes from his. Up until that point the two had their eyes locked on each both of them not wanting to give in on the battle of wills.

"Oh yes it is if you're some sort of killer than it is my business." He stated, dead serious in a harsh tone.

"If I was a killer, I would have killed you by now." She pointed out like it was the most obvious thing in the world locking her narrowed ruby eyes back onto his.

"Than you could be a fugitive," he shot back tersely.

"And how is that your business?" she inquired assertively, the burning intensity of her eyes causing him to look up at the stars.

"You'd be worth a lot of money if I turned you in." he replied still not looking at her, noting in his mind that it'd be handy if she was a fugitive as his cash supplies were dwindling and on the plus side he would rid of her huge gob. Besides from what he had heard from his brother the fairer sex cost a considerable amount of money to maintain.

"You wouldn't," she gasped in dismay. She'd rather be one hundred feet in the air with a nutter riding a dragon than in the hands of that army.

"Aha so you are a fugitive!" he cried victoriously, eyeing her with his sapphire eyes smugly.

"No!" she proclaimed, insulted. She may have played a lot of words but fugitive was definitely not one of them.

"Then why are they after you?" he insisted eyeing her suspiciously like some foreign dish.

"Honestly? I don't know! All I know is that they want me alive not dead." She informed exasperated not believing her luck. An entire army had floored her village all because they wanted her, she had no idea if any of her townsfolk had survived as she had been separated from them from the start, she had been rescued by a cocky lad riding a great blue and grey dragon which before this evening believed didn't existed and now she was being called a fugitive!

"How do you know this?" he asked curiously.

"I heard one of the leaders yell it out to his men," she answered back praying this guy would see the truth in her words.

"Hmmm… and you've done nothing to upset this army?" he inquired through narrow eyes. Armies, people and even animals didn't attack without a reason, this girl was either lying through her teeth or some nobility's daughter.

"No, I don't even know who these soldiers are or what they army comes from." She declared.

"You're not some kind of lord's daughter are you?" He asked with a thoughtful expression on his face, it wasn't uncommon for sons and daughters of rich men to be held hostage for a considerable sum of money.

"You mean like getting kidnapped for ransom money? I wish." She scoffed. "The most valuable thing I've ever owned is a mirror." She stated like some sort of sad joke.

"So you don't even have the slightest clue to why they want you so badly and alive?" He questioned, not entirely buying the girl's story though dropping it for the mean time. His experiences with these situations had taught him not to push for answers rather wait for the person to slip something and then get the right story. Though then again if she wanted to lie to cover her story she could have said she was some lord's daughter, after all he doubted anyone else in the village was alive to deny this story.

"Not a clue." She replied with a shake of her head.

"So what was your name?" He asked enquiringly.

"Hilary," she announced.

"Hilary?" he pressed on testing to make sure it was her real name.

"Hilary Tatibana." She answered automatically. Miss Hilary Tatibana was either a very good liar or telling the truth about her name. Tatibana… the name struck a chord of familiarity within him.

"Tatibana… say you're not related to a Kenny Tatibana?" he queried.

"Yeah he' my cousin, how do you know him?" she exclaimed startled in disbelief that this guy knew her brother.

"First?" he queried quickly.

"Yeah," she replied, unsure at what he was getting at.

"You two are closely related? No way!" he cried out in astonishment. He had asked not really expecting the two to be related. The Kenny he knew was so smart and she was so dense and big mouthed. Well at least he could find out whether she was lying or not.

"What's so unbelievable about it?" she questioned edgily in an uninviting tone.

"He's so smart and reserved and you're…" he began but then halting his words when he realised they weren't all that pleasant. He suspected Hilary was going through that time of the month and really didn't want to risk his head.

"Yes?" she insisted testily.

"You're well not," he concluded lamely, not wanting to antagonise her further.

Not entirely satisfied with the response but wanting some answers to the questions swirling in her head she questioned him further. "And how do you know Kenny, Mr Dragon Riding Man?"

"It's Tyson. He lives nearby and my grandfather is tutoring him in some ancient texts as part of his education to become a scholar. Apparently he's some child genius or something." He responded.

"That's my cousin alright." She nodded in agreement talking mainly to herself. "Talk about a small world… So how is he going?" She carried on interested on any news about her cousin, she hadn't heard from him for nearly a year.

"Alright I think, though I haven't been home for two months. Last time I saw him Gramps was still putting him through his patience testing." Tyson informed not at all worried at the abrupt change of topic.

"Patience testing? What has that got to do with becoming a scholar?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Not sure, personally I think he does it just for kicks. When I first began my samurai training my first months of lessons where to just sit in front of a samurai sword and grab it when I thought I was ready to begin my samurai training. First day I sat there I waited for about a minute and then grabbed it and Gramps says you are not ready to begin your training try again tomorrow. So I tried the next day, waiting a little longer this time and he said the same thing. It went on for about a month each day waiting a little longer and him repeating the same words. Then one day I sat there thinking real hard of why I needed to become a samurai and Dragoon came out of it." He said fondly at the memory giving the dragon a little pat. "Gramps nearly fainted; somehow I had freed the Guardian of the East, how it got into that sword I'll be darned, but if I could free a spirit I was certainly ready to pick up the sword. Gramps must have thought so too as they next day I commenced my training." He concluded, ending his story.

"Nice story, but where does Kenny come into it?" she asked a little confused.

"Sorry, guess I went on a bit of a tangent there." He apologised with a goofy grin. Not having a considerable conversation with another human for a while had caused him to babble at the drop of a hat, forgetting the subject at hand. "Well Gramps did the same thing to him but instead of a sword he used a quill. Think he did it for about a month and a half before he started actually doing any teaching." He pondered biting his bottom lip in thought. "Hey Dragoon that cave looks like an alright place to camp." He told Dragoon, the dragon immediately beginning its rapid descent causing Hilary to shriek in surprise gluing her body to his chest as her stomach did a back flip from the changing altitude. "Right, forgot your not use to this," he somewhat apologised with a silly smile.

Dragoon landed in the entrance of the cave flawlessly as if he had merely floated to the ground. Gathering Hilary in his arms he swung his left leg over and Hilary predicting what he was about to do latched her arms tightly around his neck as he jumped of the scaly back, landing on the ground with a weighty thud.

"Hope you don't mind roughing it," he said gesturing to the cave's solid rock floor.

"I'm sleeping on that?" she queried in annoyance, eyeing the floor with severe distaste. The uneven floor did nothing to welcome her back.

"Yes your highness," he commented sarcastically. "In case you haven't noticed your village, the only one for miles, has been wiped off the map and an army is after you so we can't just nap in some field standing out like a cow in a flock of sheep." He explained. If anyone deserved to complain it was him, she was the reason he had to sleep on the rocky floor and that message was evident with his tone of voice.

"Look I'm sorry, I really am grateful for all that you've done for me, saving me and that. It's just I've had a really rough night and kind of taken it out on you which was totally immature of me." She apologised realising for the first time just how tired she was.

"I understand. You hungry at all?" He replied, biting back the comment of agreeing with her on being immature so not to get her all fired up again. Besides his experience with the opposite sex was to agree with them or at least understand that their point is valid rather than to disagree.

"No, thank you." She answered with a small smile.

"Well I am just going to collect some twigs for a small fire just outside the cave. Dragoon will be here to look after you just in case something happens." He informed and after she nodded in understanding, he exited the cave. With Tyson gone she took advantage of the time to rake her eyes shamelessly over Dragoon, noticing how small the cave seemed with a colossal dragon crammed inside of it.

It surprised her when she realised she wasn't scared of it, not even a little a bit, she thought, as she stretched her hand to feel it's scales which weren't soft like say a fish or a lizard but not hard like steel. They were extremely smooth too as if they had been buffed and shone dimly in the faint moonlight. Continuing to inspect them with her hands she noted they were cold almost as snow. Well she supposed dragons were closely related to lizards and therefore cold blooded. Her eyes then dipped to its feet or was it claws? They looked like feet at the heel but at the toes razor sharp talons like an eagle's clawed the floor, she shuddered at the thought of being sliced by one, they could probably rip through her as easily as she could rip wet paper.

She jumped slightly when she felt the enormous, powerful muscles shift so that he could look at her better. Well it looked like a he. Craning her neck so she could she the under belly she found no evidence that pointed either to a male or female. Did dragons even have those bits on them? Or maybe it hid them under the scales or something like snakes? Still feeling the dragon's eyes on her she looked up and for the first time stared into its deep blue eyes. They were positioned on its head to allow maximum peripheral vision, it could almost see behind itself. Adverting her gaze from the eyes she shifted to the teeth, no daggers was a better word that could stab at least a ten centimetre hole through flesh which lead to thoughts of what it ate. What exactly did it eat? Hilary had heard legends of villages sacrificing young maidens to dragons, surely it didn't eat humans? Or she hoped so. Then again if it did it wouldn't it have long ago disposed of Tyson, unless it ate only those stupid enough to annoy it.

"I'm back!" Tyson hollered as he entered the cave with a bundle of sticks, reeling Hilary in back from her thoughts.

"Hey what does Dragoon eat?" she asked curiously, voicing her thoughts.

"Primarily meat, occasionally he may eat a bit of foliage though." He answered whilst building the fire. Hilary smiled ruefully at the thought that it didn't cross humans of the menu.

"Must eat a lot," she hypothesised once again taking in the size of the dragon, it would have to be at least 16 feet long.

"You could say that. He eats about four cows a night or the equivalent in volume with other animals. I'd imagine it pisses the farmers off loosing all that livestock." He answered whilst nurturing the small flame to grow. Hilary noticed that Dragoon crept closer for the warmth of the flame. "Speaking of food…" He stated standing up from his crouching position and then rummaging through his pack. "You sure you're not hungry? I've got fruit cake and…" he asked again shaking his canteen to make sure he had water, "water."

"I'll just have some water thanks." She replied, for the first time realising just how parched her throat was from the smoke.

"Catch," he informed throwing it to her with perfect aim then helping himself to some fruit cake. Catching the canteen neatly in both hands, she shook it herself to determine how much was left and allowed herself half of the water. Eyeing her shadows as she drank, she watched them as the fire caused them to move like they were performing some sort of tribal dance along the cave wall. Setting herself beside the fire with a bit of distance between her and the dragon rider, she warmed herself by he fire wondering what on Earth she was going to do now.

She supposed she would have to move in with her aunt and cousin and help her run the noodle shop she owned now that her house was destroyed, speaking of which what had happened to her village? She had been in the forest collecting herbs (Hilary was the village's healer) as she had ran out of time that day and with the full moon out she could easily enough see he way through the forest, besides she told her neighbour Wyatt where she was going so if anything happened he knew where to find her. Sometime while she was in there her village must have been attacked, it was only a little while later when she saw the flames and the smoke that she realised something wasn't right. Running back she realised she heard hooves coming closer and closer for her and then it hit her like a ton of bricks that she was closing in the distance between her and an army. Doubling back she sprinted, the army always getting closer and closer until she had been saved by Tyson.

Re-running the story once more in her head, there were a couple of things that she didn't understand, how did they know whereabouts in the forest she was? Did Wyatt tell them unknowingly or did they force it out of him? And what happened to the rest of the villagers? Were they alive or... injured. They couldn't be, could they? She thought to herself daring not to even say the word in case she jinxed them. Glad she didn't accept Tyson's offer for food as she felt her stomach churn, she realised abruptly as the town's healer she had to go back and help them. But with the army lurking was that a really good idea? It wasn't like she could find her way back either, she was probably miles away from her village.

Concluding to go back at first light she eyed the floor wearily looking for a comfy patch of rock if there was such a thing and her eyes eventually came to Tyson. He had finished his dinner and was gathering stones around the fire to keep it contained for the night. She was glad he had decided to let it burn itself out instead of putting it out as a chilly breeze blew threw the cave. Continuing to watch him, the samurai removed his armour and she noted that he didn't remove his sword which she thought was probably a wise thing to do as samurais, she supposed, were meant to be ready for anything. He then turned, staring at her for a few seconds in deep thought before he spoke. "It's going to be a cold on tonight. I've got a blanket you could borrow." He offered.

"I've got my cloak, I'll be right." She replied with a soft smile at his gesture. Hilary wondered to what happened to the cocky lad from before to this sweet gentleman in front of her. Somehow she went from despising this man to forming a foundation to a friendship all within an hour or so but then again she supposed that anything in this world was possible. After all who would have thought dragons were real.

"Well if you say so," he said stifling a yawn as he settled himself against Dragoon who looked significantly comfier than the rock. Eyeing a nook in the dragon's tail that would have perfect for her back she sighed longingly not knowing how Tyson would feel about her sleeping on his pet or whatever it was.

"You can touch him if you want he doesn't bite," he offered, noticing her eyes on Dragoon and when she scooted over and rested on him without hesitation he was both surprised and impressed. "He doesn't scare you?"

"Should I be?" she queried as she snuggled into the nook.

"Nah, it's just most people usually wet themselves when they see him," he explained with a bit of glumness lacing his tone. Dragoon wouldn't hurt a fly, unless it endangered someone's life, Tyson hated it how people saw Dragoon as a monster. Even in his homeland where dragons were associated with the emperor, people still wet themselves. It was refreshing to see someone, and a girl at that (females usually screamed their lungs out at the sight of Dragoon), that wasn't intimidated by him.

Smiling at finally discovering the sex of the dragon and that her intuition was right on the matter, she answered. "Pity, he's really fascinating."

"He is," he agreed yawning. "Anyway night."

"Good night." She yawned back snuggling herself in the flame heated dragon drifting of to sleep were it soon called for her again


	2. The Flame Archer

Ŧђ℮ ĐặŘЌŊëŞŝ

Ŧђ℮ ĐặŘЌŊëŞŝ

Chapter 2 – The Flame Archer

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes Hilary awoke to the inviting smells of cooking. Yawning she peered out to the cave's entrance over Dragoon's back were the sun streamed in momentarily blinding her eyes before adjusting to the light.

"Morning," she greeted putting her cloak on, announcing her consciousness as she made her way of to the fire to see if she could help with breakfast.

"Morning," he replied cheerily. "You woke up at a good time breakfast is nearly ready." He informed.

"Need help?" she offered.

"Nah, I'm almost done."

"Um," Hilary stared not sure how to word her request. "Um, I was wondering if we could fly by my village and see if there are any survivors."

Tyson sighed; he had been expecting her to ask something along those lines.

"That's not a good idea. The army most definitely will have spies lurking around just waiting for you to come back." Tyson reasoned removing some meat off the fire and putting it in a bowl.

"But I'm the town's healer! It's my duty to help any survivors!" she explained in desperation.

He could see her point about it being her duty, being a samurai his life revolved around his duty to serve his master but then again she hadn't seen the ruins of her village. When he had flown across no buildings stood they had all been burnt down to the ground, just a big field resembling a charcoal desert. No wonder he could have seen the smoke so far away, the intensity of the flames most have been astounding. It was nothing short of a miracle that the forest didn't go up in smoke too. Luckily though the village was surrounded with fields and it wasn't very windy so the fire was just isolated to the village. Whoever this army was they definitely knew what they were doing, they just reeked of professionalism. Anyway it wasn't wise to risk Hilary getting caught by going back when they didn't know why the army wanted her so badly and alive for that matter.

"Hilary," the softness of his tone and the grim expression on his face told her what ever he was about to say it wasn't going to be good. "Look I flew over your village last night and nothing was left; everything was burnt to the ground. If they stayed in the village they would have been killed by the fire. If there were any survivors they would have fled through the forest to hide, not stay at the village so going back will be pointless." He reasoned realistically.

"So what do you propose we do then?" she asked defeated though he was right, her fellow villagers wouldn't hang around they would probably make their way to another village.

"I was thinking of going back home so you could see your aunt and cousin and together try and figure out why they were after you. If they wanted you so bad that they destroyed your entire village, I don't think they'll give up too easily in finding you. If the army is as professional as I think it is they'll be dispatching troops in all the villages nearby yours and all main roads. If we set out after breakfast, Dragoon can cover distance much quicker than horses and should be able to make camp by night fall on the other side of the ranges far from this area." He stated clearly, like it had been rehearsed, obviously he had thought it through last night and this morning a couple times in his head. "Is that alright with you?" he checked.

"Not really, but I guess I don'," she replied annoyed and defeated seeing the logic in his words.

"Here eat up we have a long to of travelling ahead of us. Oh and it's a good idea to go to the toilet before we head off." He informed handing her a bowl of rice, meat and a bit of bread.

"Thanks," she replied softly. She wasn't really that hungry but seeing as she didn't eat last night she had to eat something so she didn't fall ill or lose her strength. Tyson scoffed his down rapidly, washed it down and then started to prepare for today's trip. Putting out the fire he then proceeded to make it look like they had never camped here, by the time he was finished Hilary had forced the last of her breakfast down her throat and went outside to relieve herself. When she got back Tyson was fixing his pack to his back, ready to leave.

"Have you ever ridden a horse before?" he asked.

"Not really but my neighbour Wyatt use to double me up on his horse," she answered curiously, weren't they riding a dragon though Tyson seemed to answer her thoughts in her next reply.

"When you were on the horse did you find your legs got really sore from sitting in the same position?" he questioned.

"Yeah and when I hoped of I couldn't walk right." She replied grimacing at the memory.

"Well prepare for that." He enlightened with a small grin.

"Great…" she stated unenthusiastically, "looking forward to it."

"I knew you would. Don't worry you get use to it, it doesn't even bother me anymore." He reassured. "Want a boost up." He offered.

"Yes please, I always had to climb the fence to get on the horse." She accepted eagerly.

Clasping his arms on the side of her hips he instructed "Okay on three jump up, one, two, three..." And on three lifted her up and placed her on the back of Dragoon were she automatically gripped the sides of the dragon's back for balance. Shifting her left leg over with a little difficultly as she was wearing a dress she slowly brought it over so she was sitting on the dragon like you would a horse. Bunching the skirt of the dress in the middle so her knickers wouldn't show she felt the cool scales of the dragon against her bare legs. Tyson then put a hand against Dragoon and used it to push him up on to of him and in one swift movement landing on his back, legs neatly straddled on each side. Putting an arm firmly around Hilary's waist he pulled her closer, her back brushing against his chest, to secure her so she wouldn't slip off mid-flight, his other hand then gripped one of Dragoon's horns like the previous night.

"Ready," he asked.

"Ready," she replied with a little nod and not even a second after the word had came out of her mouth they were already thirty feet in the air causing her to shriek in surprise and fastened one hand onto his thigh and the other onto his arm circling her waist. Once she had registered she was quite safe she removed her hand from his upper thighs in embarrassment, her cheeks flushed in a pretty pink.

"Not as ready as you thought hey?" he taunted with a smile. Eyeing a creek on the ground, she chose not to dignify it with a response.

It had seem ages ago since they had stopped for lunch and had gotten the opportunity to eat, relieve themselves and stretch their cramped legs when in reality it had been less than an hour. Her bare inner thighs, being exposed to the dragon's scales, were sore and blistering and constantly felt as if they were on fire. She found herself questioning why females never wore pants and the stupidity of it, after all it was just cloth sewn up a little differently. As soon as she got to her aunt's she would make it her mission to steal a pair of Kenny's pants with really thick material.

Taking her mind of her throbbing thighs she thought about engaging Tyson in a conversation again. The last time she did they ended up playing a rather unsuccessful game of eye spy. Tyson had gone first spying something that started with 'W'. She had said everything! White, wagon, weir, water, waist, weapon, weather, west, wilderness and every time Tyson would reply with a cheery, "no." Eventually she gave up in frustration were he replied with, "wind." How on earth could you see wind? It was invisible! His pitiful defence was you could see the wind when it blew a leaf! Vowing never to play eye spy with Tyson again she asked the question that had been plaguing her mind for the last half hour.

"How much longer until we are there?" she asked in exasperation like a small child.

"See those mountains up ahead," he pointed out at which she nodded. "Well as soon as we are over them we'll set up camp for the night."

"Really!" she exclaimed excitedly, her eyes lightening up at the thought of finally being able to walk around.

"Yep, actually we've been pretty lucky that the winds blowing in our direction." He stated.

"How come?" she chirped, her mood suddenly gleeful.

"Well it makes us travel faster. It's the same as paddling a boat with the current; it's much easier than going against the current. Besides your lips get chapped going against the wind." He stated, rubbing his moistening his lips at the thought. "Sometimes you get really lucky and find an air stream."

"An air stream?" she pondered out loud. She had never heard of one of those before.

"You've probably never heard of it before but it's like a stream of fast moving air. Going with the wind is like going with a weak current but an air stream is like going with rapids. If you can journey in one of those you can travel at extraordinarily high speeds." He informed.

"How fast can they go?" she inquired curious.

"I'm not sure really but it's faster than anything I've ever seen." He replied.

"Wow it must be really fast then. Are there any near here?" She asked interested, searching the air around her. If they could ride an air stream they would be able to make camp in no time.

"Don't really know as they constantly change their position. They're kind of like the weather, really unpredictable, though you need to be really high up to find them, higher than this that's for sure."

"But we're already over a hundred feet in the air!" she cried in disbelief, her idea of riding the air stream crumbling to dust.

"It's just how it works, the higher up you are the stronger the winds are or something like that." He theorised. Looking down he hungrily eyed an orchard of citrus trees, quickly scanning the area to make sure no one was around. "Would you like some oranges for dinner?" Tyson asked in a polite tone.

Oranges! She absolutely loved oranges! Oranges were a rare treat in her village, as were watermelons, as they had to be sent from miles away as none grew in the valley her village was located in. "Yes please!" she answered happily.

"Down we go then Dragoon!" Tyson commanded the dragon and all of a sudden they were out of the clouds and in a field of orange trees flying slowly between the rows of trees. What he said next absolutely floored her.

"Just grab them off the tree as we go past," he instructed, removing his arm from around her wast as he picked oranges of the branches, putting them in his pack.

"You're stealing them?" she cried incredulously her cheerful mood gone in an instance. Wasn't he a samurai? All honourable and righteous, fighting evil, protecting the weak. Then again she thought Tyson wasn't you're stereotypical samurai, thinking about how he dropped her in mid air for his own amusement. The memory only heightened her current displeasure with him for thieving.

"I prefer not to call it that." He replied continuing to pick the oranges, his body language showing no indication that he felt any guilt for the crime he was committing.

"Oh, then what do you call it then?" she asked astringently.

"What comes around goes around. I help them when they're in trouble and they help me whenever I am in need of something." He explained nonchalantly.

"I can't believe you! And you being a samurai makes the whole thing worse!" she cried in shocked.

"Why?" he asked casually, still picking oranges.

"You should know better!" She yelled, her tone resembling a mother scolding her child. If it wasn't for the position they were seated in preventing them from eye contact Hilary would have been glaring daggers at him.

"Please," he drawled, unswayed by her words. "And you haven't stolen something before?"

"Of course not!" she answered, insulted by his statement.

"I don't know what's your problem I'm only picking a few oranges it's not like I am making off with there live savings." He defended.

"It doesn't matter how invaluable it is, it's the principle!" she yelled back at him.

"Come off it I've bet you've at least picked one flower, if you are all about 'principles' that's technically murder." He reasoned logically.

"No it's not!" she rebutted, admitting her guilt unconsciously for murdering a flower.

"Yes it is! How would you feel is someone came along and picked your head off your body?" he asked pausing from picking oranges to poke her in the side.

"That's different." She stated tetchily.

"And while you were murdering that poor, innocent flower did you ever stop to think that some one might have owned that field? Because that would be classified as thieving too you know." He stated with a slight air of arrogance. How on Earth did he turn the conversation around to make her out to be the bad guy? "You know you're such a hypocrite," he stated as he sealed his bag up and motioned to Dragoon to continue on their journey. Dragoon snorted at his passengers' bickering as he began his ascent.

"Hypocrite!" she cried indignantly almost mortally offended. "I at least have morals," she asserted in a refined manner. Hilary wanted off the dragon, arguing with someone sitting behind you with there arm locked around your waist so you were unable to see their face was anything but comfortable but considering how he had dropped her the previous night when she wanted off she refrained from asking.

"If you have morals then you should be more respectful to your saviour." He argued back. For all the trouble she was worth maybe he should let that army have her he thought, of course he was not stupid enough to voice his thoughts to a raging female. Her only reply to his statement was a throaty scoff which clearly disagreed with what he said.

The remainder of their journey was uncomfortable yet this word didn't seem to justify the situation enough. The air around them was an atmosphere of crackling electricity and tense silence. Dragoon seemed to have felt it too as he flew faster than before as if wanting to camp as quickly as possible so these two got a little time away from each other before one or both of them did something regrettable. After what felt like hours for the three of them, they finally crossed the mountain range and made camp about an hour or so from sunset near a relatively unknown hot spring, both Tyson and Hilary were more than relieved to have some quality time apart. While their tempers had cooled down neither wanted to be the first to initiate a conversation in the end it was Tyson who was the first to break the stony wall of silence.

"I'm going to collect some firewood for dinner. There's a hot spring nearby which Dragoon will lead you to so you can have a bath. Don't be too long as dinner will be ready soon." He informed in a level tone, his eyes which were slightly narrowed were unreadable.

"Okay," Hilary replied acknowledging him briefly to show she heard his words but her tone was terse, indicating that she was far from forgiving him. Turning to Dragoon she started following him on the almost non-existent path that led to the springs.

That Tyson was going to be the death of her. The way he took those oranges without the smallest tinge of guilt frustrated her to no end. It was as if he had a right to take those oranges like as if he was an emperor or something. Who on earth taught him his ethics? Weasels? Then again weasels probably had more morals then him. Arriving at the hot springs she tested the temperature with her toes. Perfect. With her hands on the skirt of her dress ready to yank it off over her head, she turned her head to find Dragoon curled lazily on the ground with his eyes on her, watching her causing her body to freeze. Sure he might be some kind of mystical beast with no special interest in humans including ones that would need to be naked to take a bath but he was still male and she felt uncomfortable peeling her clothes off under his intense gaze.

"Um… could you please turn around?" she asked timidly. If Dragoon had eyebrows he certainly would have one of them raised in confusion, didn't his master tell him to watch her and make sure nothing happens?

Maybe he couldn't understand her, she thought with a frown on her face, but then again he could understand Tyson's words and they were the same language. Then again those two had such a close bond that the two seemed to be almost psychically connected. Maybe she was looking into this too much and he just hadn't heard her.

"Excuse me, Dragoon, could you please turn around so I can get undressed?" She requested her voice more pronounced and louder than before only to be met with the same puzzled expression. He had to have heard her that time, was he scared if he didn't keep an eye on her she would die on him or something?

"Look you don't need to watch me in case I drown or as this water isn't even deep and if something tries to attack me I can guarantee you I'll scream. Okay?" She reasoned, a big grin crossing her face as the dragon turned around to face the barely there path. Removing her articles of clothing quickly to shorten the time her bare skin had contact with the chilly air whilst all the time keeping a wary eye on Dragoon, she hopped in the hot spring, moaning softly thanks to the water's soothing powers relaxing her aching muscles. Now this was heaven! Resting on a coincidental rock formation that doubled as a seat she wanted to fall asleep for at least a day, however she couldn't rest, not until she no longer smelt of the foul stenches of dirt and sweat. Sucking a deep breathe in she sunk underwater, only to pop back up to start scrubbing vigorously at her hair. Correction, wet hay, it felt nothing like the soft hair she once possessed.

She sunk again underneath the water to get more water through her locks, this time however when she surfaced for a breath she felt a huge energy level nearby. No two, she realised as she concentrated on the energy levels around her. One was Dragoon which was the one she sensed when that army was chasing her but the other one she had no idea of who it was. Could she sense the presence of dragons? Concentrating harder she realised the energy level was located above her, somewhere up the mountain and in close proximity to her. Looking up the mountain's rocky slope she could see nothing but jagged boulders hiding the dragon from view. It looked like a safe place to nest so maybe it was nesting up there, that is of course if dragons nest, she thought.

Then some not so pretty thoughts came to her mind, if she could sense dragons was that why the army was after her? Dragoon, from her knowledge of animals was one of the most powerful creatures to exist, perhaps the army wanted her to sense out dragons so they could catch them and use them for there own purposes. On the other hand that dragon could have a master and was out to attack them or monitoring their movements otherwise she figured he would have announced himself long ago. Then it hit her like a bolt of lightning. She was naked and if that dragon had a master and was watching her bathe then…

"Dragoon!" she called in a low, panicked whisper so not to alert the possible peeping tom that she knew of their presence, all the while careful not to raise her body from out of the water. The alarm in her voice immediately brought the dragon to his feet, staring at her with anticipation. "There's a dragon up the mountain!" she informed apprehensively nodding her head in the direction of the energy level.

Dragoon didn't need to be told twice, in less than a second he was in the air and scouring the rocks. When he let out a loud, mighty roar, Hilary nearly wet herself in fright, scrunching her eyes shut she pressed her body against the rocks in an attempt to hide and shield herself from the potential onslaught of two beasts. Despite the warmth of the hot spring her body shivered involuntarily.

"Hilary, are you alright?" Tyson asked his voice brimming with concern. Opening her eyes they briefly met with Tyson's to which she nodded in response to his question. Tyson had his sword whipped out and posed ready for battle their previous dispute forgotten. With the sunset's rays of light highlighting his profile and the wind combing his hair he reminded Hilary of some sort of hero one would imagine in a tale and she hoped that he not only looked the part but had some hero characteristics to his persona, for their sakes.

Sticking two fingers in his mouth, Tyson let out a loud calling whistle immediately summoning Dragoon to his side and not a second after the dragon had touched the ground a red blur swooped down landing in front of the path's entrance. With Dragoon standing in front of her, as if guarding her, she couldn't make out what the red blur looked like but one thing was certain, it definitely wasn't a dragon. It had two feet instead of four and the resembled the feet of an eagle. Its feet were huge! If that thing was a bird it was definitely a giant of the feathered species. A thud interrupted the silence as a pair of recently polished pair of brown leather boots made contact with the ground. So the creature did have a master.

"I never thought you were the type to spy on bathing women, Hiwatari but then again it does fit into your shadowy disposition quite nicely I must say." Tyson baited wanting nothing more to get underneath Hiwatari's skin and cause him to prickle. Ever since he betrayed him and his family, Tyson hated him with a passion and the fact that he had perved on Hilary infuriated him to no end. One thing Tyson was sure of and that was it was no coincidence he was here, that was for sure. Hilary on the other hand gaped in shock; Tyson was on a name basis with this pervert!

"Spare me of your words Granger; I have no romantic interests for your courtesan." The cold, silky male voice hailed Hiwatari enlightened with rancour. Hilary welded her jaws together in rage, mirroring the same anger Tyson had in his eyes; did he just call her a prostitute? That peeping Tom! How dare he call her a courtesan when he was the one spying on her bathe! She didn't dare give him a piece of her mind, not wanting to attract any more attention in her state of undress.

"Are you implying then that you have some kind of interest in her?" Tyson demanded his voice dripping with malice.

"Who wouldn't when she has a thousand yen on her head?" he replied his voice cool and confident like a shifty merchant. Hilary's eyes widened, forgetting being called a prostitute for the time being. She was worth a thousand yen? Just how bad did this army want her to fork out that kind of money?

"And why would a guy like you need money? You're grandfather is a lord, an extremely rich lord." Tyson questioned in suspicion.

"Good question. Let's just say my interest in her is one of curiosity."

"Elaborate?" he demanded.

"I was hoping you would tell me, or her, I'm really not too picky." He asked casually.

"Tell you what?" Tyson snapped in frustration.

"Well obviously you don't know, so I'll be taking the girl then." He stated and in a flash had his bow raised, an arrow aimed directly at Tyson's neck. "Are you going to save him Dragoon and leave the girl vulnerable or are you going to protect the girl and leave your master to die?" he asked, pulling his string tighter on his bow and without any indication let the string lose.

Using his tail, Dragoon swiftly blocked the arrow which barely dinted his scales and then advanced on Hiwatari preventing him from shooting another arrow, swiping the bow out of his arm. The giant red bird obviously wasn't one to stand back in the scenery and took advantage of Tyson's unprotected exposure, removing him from his sword with a flap of its wings. The two were locked in a standstill, if Dragoon made a move on Hiwatari, the red bird would reciprocate with an attack on Tyson. Hilary felt powerless, both sides seemed to be easily matched; they could be here for hours before someone gave up and it was almost dark. If this stranger was as stubborn as Tyson they would probably be here for days and there was no way that she was going to get out of the spring with all them there. Seeing no obvious solution to the situation she turned her attention to the bird.

Getting a good look at the bird, its shiny red feathers and its long red tail feathers similar to a peacocks, she realised it was indeed a phoenix, another mystical creature she thought only existed in myths. According to the stories the dragon and the phoenix were often depicted together as blissful lovers or mortal enemies. Obviously these two were the later of the two, they looked anything but lovers with their death glares. Next she looked over at the man dubbed Hiwatari who was pinned to the ground by Dragoon and was stunned to find that he was extremely good looking, perhaps the most attractive man she had ever laid eyes on. He was so good looking that she felt lucky he was spying on her for a moment. Shaking the thought out as quickly as it came in disgust she applied her mind to the situation in front of her.

Hiwatari had an interest in her. Did he know that she could sense dragons and now also phoenixes? Maybe he was a soldier of the army that was after her? Comprehending that he was the only one that could answer her questions, Hilary set out a way to interrogate him in the end deciding to start on simple niceties then lead up to the more serious questions.

"Excuse me what was your name?" she asked her head only visible from the springs.

"Tell me yours first," he stipulated never taking his eyes off the looming Dragoon. Tyson strained his ears making sure not to miss out on a single detail of this conversation.

"Hilary Tatibana." She gave with a little smile.

"Hiwatari, Kai" he replied in monotone.

"So Kai, can you tell me why there's a thousand yen on my head." She asked her voice friendly and just a little bit ditzy since men always seemed to like the dumb ones.

"Are you saying you don't know?" he answered with a question.

"I don't have a clue," she lied not wanting to tell him that she could sense phoenixes and dragons. "I don't even know which army is after me." She added deciding to end with a truth. She was met with a stony silence that made her anxious all over. Could he see straight through her words?

"That mark on your back. How did you get it?" he asked coldly breaking the silence.

"I'm not sure; I've had it since I was young. Why do you ask?" she enquired curiously pondering why he asked about her birthmark. Was he trying to soften her up so she might let something slip?

"I've got the same one in the same place." He informed his tone a tad lighter than before.

"But you can't it's a birthmark!" she reasoned logically and to Hilary's surprise he started to remove his shirt causing Dragoon to raise an aimed claw at his throat.

"I'm not trying to escape," he enlightened exasperatedly to the dragon and proceeded to take of his shirt revealing a well sculptured chest, showing Hilary the mark. The odd swirl that had a slightly darker pigment than the rest of the skin that was on his right shoulder mirrored hers exactly.

"You were branded with that mark when you were young." He explained calmly putting his shirt back on answering the question she was about to ask.

"So you were looking at me-" she started.

"-to make sure it was the same as mine. Yes." Kai finished bluntly.

"Is that why the army is after me?" she asked putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Not particularly but I would prefer to discuss that in private." He replied, making a gesture with his head towards Tyson.

"I don't think so," Tyson snapped speaking for the first time in a while.

"I think that Miss Tatibana can make up her own mind, Granger." He stated calmly challenging Tyson to say otherwise.

Tyson shut his mouth shut; Hiwatari had purposely pushed him unknowingly into a dead end. If he spoke otherwise Hilary, like any other woman, would tell him to shut his trap and that she could make up her own mind and then go with him to talk in private just to spite him.

"No, I trust Tyson, he can hear." She stated, in a way specifying her terms causing Tyson to beam in delight. She was definitely not your average girl! "You tell me everything you know and I'll tell you everything I know." She stipulated.

"I thought you said you had no idea why you had a thousand yen on your head?" Kai queried suspiciously.

"I lied," she replied boldly from the spring her voice losing its dumb tone to it. Tyson grinned, so he was right and he didn't even have to wait for more than a day for her to let the story slip. "Now withdraw your creatures from each other and we'll go back to the camp, okay?" she somewhat ordered. Tyson and Kai momentarily looked at each other and without saying it a truce for the time being was set in place.

"Dragoon,"

"Dranzer," they both said simultaneously recalling them to their respective partner's side then turned to Hilary looking at her with some sort of expectant look.

"Err right, you two start making your way to camp and I'll be right behind you just right after I get dressed." She stated a light blush tinting her cheeks. The two males started their way up the path, with Tyson in the lead with Kai following behind putting as much distance between them as possible, Dragoon and Dranzer flew overhead. Hilary sighed deeply, could her day be any more stressful? Rising her body out of the warm water, she shook her top half dry like a dog since she had no towel to dry herself on.

The last light of the day had almost been all consumed by the night which was probably why she slipped on a wet rock on her way out. Letting out a loud yelp, she landed hard outside of the spring on her hip and left hand immediately bringing tears to her eyes. Both of her shins and her left palm was grazed and stung so bad that it throbbed; she was going to be a kaleidoscope of bruises by tomorrow. Hearing the yelp Tyson sprinted back drawing his sword out, followed closely by Kai her had his bow and arrow set back to the hot spring were Hilary was still naked, fallen on the ground.

She sure wasn't going to forget this day too fast.

Yes I am saving author's notes until the end now. It looks so much neater don't you agree? Now that chapter was long! And originally I had set out to feature so much more in this chapter but that has been shifted into the next. Personally I am really proud of this story and I am hoping to squeeze everyone from the cast of beyblade into the plot.

Thanks to sexy-jess, Shiggity Shags, twincharm, Thomas O'Malley (kudos for pointing out my mistake, it's meant to be cousin), Calm Soul, Hutchy and xomi for your reviews! You guys rock!

Now I am dying to here what you guys think (especially if you liked it!) and what you think is going to happen! Constructive criticism is always welcomed! So go on then, review.


	3. Black Dranzer

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Ŧђ℮ ĐặŘЌŊëŞŝ

Chapter 3 – Black Dranzer

If how she felt earlier was uncomfortable it was a huge understatement to how she was feeling now. She had never been so mortified in her life! Tyson and Kai had come sprinting back at her yelp only to find her naked and sprawled across the rocky ground. There was no way she would be able to look either of the two men in the eye ever again, her mind declared ruefully, as she tended to the cuts and scraps with the herbs she had picked on that fateful night. Yep, she was unquestionably going to suppress that memory for the rest of her life and the next five lives after that.

Sitting down on the cool grass to join Tyson and Kai at the fire, with there respected beasts beside them; she fixed her gaze on the dancing flames letting out a long breath she didn't realise she had been holding which rippled through the tense air. Deciding to end the awkwardness amongst the three of them, she took in a deep breath for courage and broke the silence. "Kai?" she tested, calling out his name in a soft tone. Turning his head towards her she noticed for the first time the four blue triangles that graced his cheeks causing her to stare at them somewhat rudely. She didn't get the chance to ponder what they were when his intense crimson eyes met hers for the first time since the incident causing her to look away and blush in embarrassment of having such a handsome man seen her undressed and the fact he had caught her staring at his cheeks.

"I'm all ears," he stated, his arms crossed over his chest in impatience staring at her in an intimidating manner. His body language clearly saying that she was to tell her story first, which Tyson didn't fail to pick up on.

"Oh no Hiwatari, you spill the beans first." Tyson directed raising his voice pointing his index finger at Kai accusingly.

"I don't think so moron. I already told her about the mark so it's her turn to talk." Kai spat, glaring at him in detest.

"Big whoop, she has the same mark as you." He stated sarcastically, gesturing with his hands. "Why don't you tell us something of value like who's after her?"

"BEGA," he replied shortly.

"What?" Tyson demanded both confused and slightly taken back that Kai had answered his question. According to his knowledge 'BEGA' was not a word.

"BEGA are the ones after her," he clarified with subtle pauses between his words as if he was addressing a three year old.

"I've never even heard of an army called BEGA," Hilary said confused, her eyes still on the flames.

"Me neither," said Tyson with a tone of arrogance.

"You wouldn't have they're a strictly secret organisation though I am somewhat perplexed that who've never heard of them Granger." Kai taunted with an air of superiority.

"Why's that? I don't associate with criminals like you," Tyson bit back.

"Your brother is one of there top officers," he informed with a satisfied smirk.

"What, Hiro? Why the hell is he in some secret organisation?"

"So your brother is in the army that's out to get me?" Hilary asked eyeing Tyson with slight suspicion. It would be just her luck if it turned out that her 'saviour' who she was beginning to trust was part of this army and was leading her back into the arms of the enemy.

"I wouldn't have a clue. I haven't seen him since…" Tyson trailed off. Whatever was playing through his mind must have been extremely important as it sobered his annoyance with Kai immediately.

"Since what?" Hilary pressed further, her aura reeking curiosity.

"Since four years ago." He answered sketchily. "Anyway, how do you know he's joined BETA or whatever it is?" He asked Kai, changing the subject.

"I have my sources," was Kai's simple answer.

"I'll bet you do." Tyson replied through narrowed eyes. He paused momentarily before he spoke again, this time in a business like tone albeit slightly weary. "Alright Hiwatari what do you want?" He asked, running a frustrated hand through his bangs.

"Who says I want something?" Kai challenged.

"As much as you try to make yourself unreadable, I know you too well Hiwatari." Tyson responded in a serious tone that was so unlike his character. It sounded at least ten years older than his age, forcing Hilary to wonder if Tyson was wiser than he had previously let on.

"The girl," Kai stated, indicating with a stylish nod of his head to Hilary which made her blink. "You give me her and I'll make it worth your while."

"Pardon?" Hilary stuttered in disbelief not trusting her ears.

"And what exactly 'is' that?" Tyson insisted annoyed that he was treating Hilary like some sort of object that could be traded and that whatever Kai was prepared to trade for her would be something he would want and want badly.

"Information," Kai responded, never one to give something away.

"Excuse me, Kai Hiwatari! I'm not some object that you can just trade for on a whim; I'm a living, breathing human being! If you want a lover that bad I suggest you go find some courtesan!" Hilary yelled indignantly, no longer sitting down.

"I don't want a lover, especially not you" He stated conceitedly.

"Well I don't want you either!" she argued back, temper flaring. "Besides didn't we agree on both exchanging our information?" Hilary reminded heatedly.

"You stated it, I never agreed to it." Kai said coolly causing Hilary to make a strangled sound between a yell and a sob.

"Alright then answer me five questions, I trust you are a man of honesty, and I'll tell you all I know, deal?" she stipulated after a tense pause stretching out her hand for him to shake it in accordance.

Thinking it over quickly Kai realised with a satisfied smirk that there would be no way she'd ask anything significant that he couldn't reveal and if by some slim chance she did, he'd just lie straight through his teeth. "Deal," he agreed after a moment, shaking her significantly smaller hand. Hilary took a moment or two to word her questions so that they'd be no loop holes.

"Are you allied or in any way associated with BEGA?" Hilary began.

"No," he replied keeping his response short and simple.

"Are BEGA responsible for branding this mark on my back?"

"No,"

"Do you know who did?"

"My grandfather,"

"Voltaire?" Tyson checked. Again Kai blatantly ignored him.

"Your grandfather did this to me?" she asked a little shocked.

"Yes,"

"So what does this mark and your grandfather got to do with BEGA wanting me?"

"I thought you said you knew,"

"I have a pretty good idea but I don't know how they know," she stated.

"Know what?" Kai asked in a low, probing tone, his eyes intense and commanding making Hilary feel extremely small. Hilary felt the anxious knot in her stomach tighten. She had used up her five questions and it was her turn to spill, much to her dismay. The inviting thought to lie flashed through her head however she lacked the time and inspiration to do it well.

Letting out a long sigh, she started. "I can sense Dranzer, Dragoon and probably anything else like that."

"You can what?" Tyson asked incredulously, his bottom jaw was dropped in shock and eyebrows raised to his hairline. Kai who was usually expressionless had a lesser more reserved look of shock.

"I can sense their energy or aura or something." She explained, having difficulty finding the words to describe it. "Earlier on I could sense Dranzer up on the mountain and that's how I knew it was there."

"But that's unheard of!" Tyson affirmed in disbelief. Kai however was convinced more easily. So that was how she discovered his presence almost instantaneously.

"Well it's heard of now," Kai stated coolly then turning his attention back to Hilary. "You're right though I don't think BEGA knows about that."

"Then why are they after me? Why did they have to slaughter my entire village to get to me?" she asked almost desperately, her cracked words getting softer with each syllable in a gradual decrescendo. The events of yesterday and this evening were taking a serious toll on her body emotionally and she was just about ready to break down and let it out in a way that females are renowned for. Kai had apparently noticed her change in persona too, as he had become a touch softer towards her. The ice that had existed in his eyes previously had now unfrozen. Tyson had too calmed down his amazement in Hilary's previously unheard of gift and was unusually quiet, leaving the three in an awkward silence apart from Hilary's odd sniffs from trying not to cry.

It had been an extremely long and interesting day for Kai Hiwatari. Absolutely nothing had gone according to plan today with anything and everything happening. He had arrived in the town of Morioka early this morning for some new arrows as his supply had been dwindling, only to be nearly spotted by Tala Ivanov, Ian Nikolaev and Bryan Kysnetsov, three soldiers from his old army he had betrayed. He had heard the familiar cocky voice that could have only belonged to Ivanov and hid himself swiftly in an unused (thanks to the newness of the morning) women's section bathing house. Ironically, he had discovered that both Ivanov and Kysnetsov had entered the bath house despite the early hour and utilized the male's section on the opposite side of the wall he was leaning on. Then to his luck they began to talk about the rumours of some army, who they were assuming were BEGA due to the style of the attack, decimating a peaceful village to the north. Kai knew then only reason BEGA would attack such a serene village on such a scale would because they had finally found her, the key to 'The Darkness'. Then once the coast was clear, he bolted back to where he had hid Dranzer in the some thick wood and started his flight northwards towards this village, arrows long forgotten.

He could never have predicted however, Dragoon accompanied by Granger and a passenger flying over him when he had stopped for lunch. He hadn't seen Granger since he had left Bakuten all those years ago and was deadly curious as to why he was so far north from his home with a lady no less, flying as if there was no tomorrow. He had trailed them until into the late afternoon at a considerable distance that was out of his eye sight but not out of Dranzer's hawk-like eyes. It was then when he was preparing to sneak closer to Granger to spy on him did he come across the brunette in the hot spring with _that_ mark on her back. The mark changed absolutely everything. He never thought he would stumble across her accidentally and in the care of his nemesis. With her being protected by Granger there was little chance of getting her on her own much less taking her away with him. As much as he would like to kid himself, Granger was anything but weak. He was brash, stubborn and quick-tempered, for sure, but definitely not weak. It was this realisation that made him realise that he'd need to get Granger on his side, much to his dismay, if he wanted any chance of possessing the girl.

"I'll start right from the beginning. Have you heard of the legend of 'The Darkness' before?" Kai began his tone slightly softer than before, his attention directed on Hilary.

"No," she answered weakly, her eyes on the ground trying to blink away the tears that threatened to fall.

"Supposedly a millennium ago, beasts such as Dranzer and Dragoon frequented the earth in vast numbers. In fact that's were most of the world's gods were derived from. Have you heard of the phoenixes, Feng and Huang?"

"Yeah, Feng is the male phoenix that represents yang and solar and Huang is the female phoenix that represents yin and lunar." Hilary answered rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Right," he confirmed, slightly impressed she knew. "Well they gave birth to twin phoenixes however one was born of pure evil. It was so evil that Feng and Huang refused to name it, as naming it would be a sign of affection. It came to be known as Black Dranzer as its twin was named Dranzer and its heart was black. It is also known as 'The Darkness'. Its power and extent of its evil was so tremendous that it was sealed in a stone by the descendants of the Shijin also known as the four guardians of the compass. One of these guardians is Dranzer who is a descendant of the legendary Suzaku. Rumour has it that if it were to be ever set free from its rocky prison that the world would be enveloped in darkness hence its name 'The Darkness'.

My grandfather desired to be the strongest man on Earth and wanted the power of Black Dranzer more than anything else. With the aid of a man called Boris Balkov who possessed similar desires he discovered the location of its prison. All he needed then was the key which according to legend, was a child born in the year of the new millennium with an exceptional gift. So he kidnapped every child he could find born in that year with a special talent and branded them with that mark. However a secret priory guarding Black Dranzer found out about his plans and rescued many of the children and hid them before he got to work out which one was the key.

With the children he still had he entrusted them to Balkov who made an army out of them training them into some of the most powerful fighters ever to have graced this earth. However this army fell apart and formed a new army when they were old enough to comprehend that they were being used as tools to help some old man's desire.

You're one of those branded children and more importantly, I believe you may be the key to freeing Black Dranzer."

"Me?" she squeaked.

"Yes, you." Kai confirmed.

"But I'm just you're common, average girl." Hilary reasoned hastily, seriously doubting Kai's statement.

"I don't call sensing spirits common." Tyson stated who despite his fragmented relationship with Kai believed his every word.

"Then how come I don't remember being kidnapped or branded or thinking I've meet Kai before?" she rationalised.

"You were quite young when it happened so you might not have remembered what happened or you could have just suppressed the memory." Kai answered.

"So are you positive it's me? I'm this 'key'?" she asked, sobering up to the idea that she was some special 'key'.

"Ninety-nine percent," Kai confirmed. "There is a slight chance it could be another girl but I sincerely doubt it."

"Why?"

"You can sense spirits, a gift that would fit into the legend perfectly and then there's the fact that BEGA went to such violent extremes to attempt to attain you." He reasoned.

"So BEGA is going to hunt me down until they find me and then they are going to use me to unlock this evil bird which I don't even know how to unlock and then evil will take after the world and we're all doomed, right?" she verified simply with the slightest hint of hysterics in her voice.

"That pretty much sums it up." Kai replied and then to both his and Tyson's shock she started laughing.

"Great," she laughed bitterly. "Just terrific and I thought I was just having an extremely bad day."

And so Tyson's theory was confirmed, he had stumbled across the most emotional female on the planet. One second she was crying, the next laughing, the next probably delirious. Then again she did have a rough last two days; her whole village had been wiped out except for her. He couldn't even begin to imagine how much it could impact a person. She must feel so alone and scared and yet so angry and vengeful. Still her emotional range was the scariest thing he had ever come across. Should he comfort her or give her space?

He was saved from figuring out his dilemma when Hilary calmed down slightly and asked somewhat erratically, "So what does this all mean? Do I have to go into hiding?"

"I would recommend so for the time being," Kai advised calmly totally contrasting Hilary's mood. "We don't know what exactly BEGA wants with you

"Well Hilary and I were going back to my home town so I suppose she can hide out there for awhile." Tyson stated, looking Kai squarely in the eye waiting for him to challenge him.

"Only on one condition, that I come with you," he insisted.

"I would rather it be any other way," Tyson retorted, unpleased, from how he saw it once a traitor always a traitor.

"And I'd rather not have a secret organisation after me," Hilary stated tiredly. "But until we figure out their motives you two will just have to kiss and make up. It would be impossible for just one to keep a constant look out for BEGA."

Logically, Tyson knew that this was the best course of action to take in order to protect Hilary from BEGA. However, what he was also worried about was protecting Hilary from Kai. He couldn't identify just what goal his nemesis was trying to achieve but he figured that for the time being BEGA was a greater threat than Kai. Besides it would be amusing to see his Grandpa rattle Kai.

"Fine then, but you're sleeping outside Hiwatari." Tyson stated reluctantly, crossing his arms.

"Whatever," replied Kai shortly and he also crossed his arms.

"Sounds like we have a plan then," Hilary pronounced, concluding the obvious.

"We'll leave at sunrise," Kai announced as he stood up and then stated focusing his attention on Tyson. "Make sure you don't sleep in."

"Whatever," replied Tyson shortly, mimicking Kai's previous reply.

Hilary sighed deeply. Somehow she got the feeling that this two were going to cause her to age prematurely.


End file.
